Lethal Combination

CHAPTER 7

It has been five days. His fiancée is slowly recuperating. She is already able to move without receiving any help from the maids who look out for her as instructed by Alessio, but she still gets tired easily, so she's taking everything slowly. Alessio sometimes saw her from the veranda of her room looking down on the garden as if she was in deep thoughts, and when their gazes met, the look of longing and loss in her eyes made him feel like he was about to burn. When he goes to her room to visit her at night when he comes home from work, she is already asleep, so he was not able to talk to her regarding what she had done yet. Should he just believe what his grandfather told him that she didn't have a choice but to do so?

She is still under surveillance. They cannot allow her parents to take custody of her after what she did, thus she is confined in the manor without any means of escape. There were still some questions which she needed to give an answer to once she'd gained enough strength.

Before, he never gave a damn if she went out with other men just to get his attention and everything she did back then to make him jealous failed. He was never a bit interested. He even knew she had gotten herself involved with Carlos Brovino, but he never said a word and he let her fall to hell alone, almost bringing him with her.

They were engaged but he never cared. So what changed?

Alessio leaned in his chair and closed his eyes. It was about time for him to go back home. It is not normal for him to stay in his office until ten but he found himself doing that these past few days because of the woman being confined inside the walls of Terra di Sienna. He did not want to go back home knowing that she was there because she was inciting emotions within him that were foreign even to him.

He cursed under his breath. He couldn't seem to get his fiancée out of his mind these days, even in the middle of work. "I feel annoyed whenever I see her," he thought to himself. "Yet why do I feel like I want to see her again?"

"Alessio…"

He opened his eyes at the sultry voice that called out his name. It was his secretary, Lane. He admits that he isn't a saint. He got himself involved with other women and Lane is one of them. It isn't that long when he f****d her in a hotel where they stayed in during one of the convention they attended. The woman is wild in bed, something that can't be easily said when one's only looking at her outside appearance.

The woman swayed her hips as she walked towards him, probably thinking she'd be able to make him come alive like before. He knew what that smile on her lips meant. She used that to lure him in between her fingers to do her bidding. She is planning something. She stopped in front of him and kneeled on the floor between his feet, ready to submit to him. Her short pencil skirt rose, making him see her red-colored lace panties underneath as if she did it on purpose.

The view should have appealed to him like before but nothing happened. His c**k didn't respond as it should have at the mere sight of this woman kneeling in front of him, ready to please him in any way she could.

"Get up, Lane."

His secretary ignored him and went to reach for his belt but he stopped her hand rather harshly. "I said get up. Don't make me repeat my words for the third time."

Lane huffed in anger and got up. Her face went red with anger. Gone was the face of the woman who had planned to seduce him just a minute ago. "What is wrong with you? You've been like this for a few consecutive days!"

"If you want to be f****d, then go ahead and find someone else. I'm not in the mood for your tantrums right now."

Lane looked at him like she couldn't believe his words. "Is that it? Just because Euphrosyne's life was put in danger because of her own stupidity, you changed your mind and went to her side?"

His eyes glistened in fury. "Do not bring my fiancée's name into this conversation."

"Fiancée? Alessio, do I need to remind you that you yourself don't acknowledge her existence? That on the day of your engagement, you left her side and came to my bed? Have you forgotten that she has been flaunting her cunt and opening her legs to every man she meets? And then what? She came home almost dying and you just changed your mind? Is she the reason why you're being cold to me these past few days?"

"Get out."

"Alessio - "

He ignored her and pressed the intercom number that would connect him to Lucien. "Get Miss Theron out of my office and have her take a full week's leave."

Lane looked at Alessio dumbfounded. She is not stupid. She knew what those simple words meant. She needed to get a hold of herself and cut off all of her attachments to him.

She tried to control her tears but a sob escaped her lips. How can he be this cruel?

"I love you, Alessio. I loved you. I was willing to do anything for you, so how -"

Alessio cut her off, his voice void of any feelings. "I had a great time," was all he said, but it held a lot of hidden meaning.

Anger burned in Lane's eyes but before she could say what she wanted to say, Alessio's office door opened and in came Lucien to get the woman out as he instructed.

"I will make you regret this," she threatened before she glared at Lucien. "I can leave on my own," she told him before she slammed the door shut.

"I guess you ended everything with her?"

"Contact a florist and send a bouquet of yellow roses to her apartment tomorrow morning, then have someone follow her for a month. I don't want her creating a scene. If she does something out of the ordinary, you know what to do."

Lucien sighed but did what Alessio instructed. Yellow roses. Every woman who received such a bouquet from Alessio knew what it meant. He is cutting ties with them and that they are no longer needed. It was a cruel way and Alessio seemed to get the hang of doing it.

It was a moment later when his phone rang and it was his twin on the line. "What?"

"The mole has been caught," Luca answered, and Lucien was sure Alessio had heard it by the way an evil grin painted his lips.

"How?"

"The i***t managed to get close to Euphrosyne who was by that time reading by the pool this morning. Ha detto che aveva bisogno del sole. (Said she needed the sun.) Who knows what she meant by that? Maybe she needed to tan? He was being forceful - "

"Forceful?" Alessio cut him off.

"I think they fought about something. He tried to manhandle Euphrosyne but he ended up with a broken nose instead."

"What?"

"The woman smacked him straight in the face and she's not even the least apologetic."

***

Earlier that day…

"Perché mi stai seguendo? (Why are you following me?)"

Luca shrugged as he continued following Ainsdale wherever she went. "You are under house arrest."

"And I am still inside the house. Can you leave me alone?"

"Non posso fare quel sole. (I can't do that sunshine.) Who knows what you'll do once I take my eyes off of you? You're unpredictable these days."

"I won't run. I just needed the sun."

"Yeah, tell Alessio that."

She stopped. "Where is he?"

"Alessio? He's been spending a lot of time in the company building ever since we found you. I wonder why that is."

Ainsdale bit her lip. It must be because of her. While digging out about Euphrosyne's life, she finds out that Alessio hated her the second they met each other after without contact for a long time and her having stolen Euphrosyne's identity, she has become the one on the receiving end of his hate.

"Euphrosyne, dear…"

"Euphrosyne, dear, this is my grandson Alessandro Scion."

She hissed in pain when a memory struck her mind that instant. The same tender voice, the same words, but she knew it was at a different time. When was it?

"Would you like to join us for breakfast at the patio?"

She looked back at Luca to ask if it was fine and he smiled. "I'll leave her under your watch, Don Alonzo. I'll come back and accompany her later."

The old man chuckled. "Forgive their crudeness sometimes. These men are just looking after the welfare of this family."

She followed the old man silently, her gaze looking here and there. Now that she walks in the manor without being dragged around, she can appreciate the beauty it holds. The hallways seemed familiar, and so did the large glass windows where she could see the gardens outside.

She has been here before. She just feels that she did.

When they walked past the built-in cabinet where books were arranged neatly, something caught her eye and she stopped. Unaware, she reached out her hand and pulled it out from the shelf.

"Alessio used to read that when he was young. I didn't think you'd remember."

She blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"That book you are holding, Alessio was reading that when you first met each other."

She looked down at the book and frowned. Inflorescence. It was the title written in cursive writing behind its thick cover.

"He likes… flowers?" Him?

Don Alonzo laughed at her reaction and bid her to follow him. "His grandmother, my late wife Katarina, was a botanist. It was her who had the garden around the manor cultivated and my grandson used to follow her around when he was young. It's only natural for him to be interested in plants but the flowers had caught his interest more than anything. He once said that flowers make his grandmother smile so he'll learn about them all."

Ainsdale listened as she took in everything he said, memorizing every word. But no matter what she does, she can't see that boy in the grown up Alessio. It's as if they're completely different people.

"Do you remember when you first met? My grandson never called you by your name. He didn't even want to call you ' Rose', which you so wanted him to do. Instead he called you random flower names."

She shook her head 'no'. It would have been great if she had remembered. But after arriving at this place, only bits and pieces come back into her memory and they don't even help.

Ainsdale listened to the old man who fondly reminisced the days back. He told her about his grandfather and the young girl who made a home in Alessio's heart and she kept silent. Her memory remained blank as if it was closed with a permanent lock and key.

When they reached the patio, Don Alonzo invited her to where breakfast was already served. She didn't expect she would see something like a mirage: a boy, a girl, two adults who must be the boy's parents, Don Alonzo in his younger self and an old man she knew she should recognize but couldn't.

"Alessio, meet Euphrosyne Amherstia Simonetti. She's eight years old and the granddaughter of my friend Julio."

"Are you alright, dear?"

She bit her lip and tried not to cry with the longing she suddenly felt. She thought to herself that she really shouldn't have done this - pretending to be someone else, because the different kinds of feelings that assaulted her once in a while ever since she woke up in this place didn't sit well with her present state. She is having a hard time controlling her emotions and she knew one of these days, these people will find out she is not the Euphrosyne they knew.

"I'm fine."

When the Arcanes arrived one by one, they didn't hide their animosity towards her. They did not care if she could see and that she could feel that they did not like her presence there on the patio because they wanted her out of the breakfast table. No one said a word because of Don Alonzo, but when Alessio's mother arrived, she looked at her full of disgust and hate before she could even sit in the vacant chair for her.

"What is this woman doing here?"

"Felize…"

"You expect us to have breakfast together with her, papà (dad)? She had betrayed this family and my son and she dare act like she didn't do anything grave?!"

Felize' husband, Alec tried to calm her down because he knew that if it was what the old man wanted, then they would have to grit their teeth and abide by his words. It wasn't like the old patriarch of their family took their rights, but he knew Alonzo was doing things for a reason. If Euphrosyne being here has a reason behind it, then they don't have to question it.

"Felize, will you - "

"No! If you want this family's complete attendance at the table, I want her out of my sight!"

Ainsdale saw how anger arose within Don Alonzo's eyes as he stared at his daughter-in-law. She knew it was only a second before he exploded. She didn't want their morning ruined because of her, so she sighed and gently slid her chair back before she stood.

"If you would excuse me, nonno (grandfather), I'll just be in the gardens," she told him as she took the book she was holding with her.

"But you haven't had your breakfast yet."

"I'll have it when I feel hungry, thank you."

She slightly tilted her head as a sign of respect to the Arcanes, who looked at her, surprised. They didn't expect she would back down. And Felize, who had been glaring in her way before, now stared with a puzzled look at the back of the woman who had left. The Euphrosyne they knew wouldn't have done what she just did because, knowing that she has Don Alonzo, the patriarch of the Arcanes on her side, she never fails to use it to her advantage, even to the point that she disrespects them.

When she was out of their sight, it was Felize who somehow felt ashamed of what happened. "I…"

Don Alonzo sighed. "Take a seat, Felize. It is what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you know what you did wrong. I don't want this happening the second time around."

"Si, papa. (Yes, dad.)"

While the Arcanes had their breakfast on the patio, Ainsdale found herself sitting by the pool on the lounge chairs. Because she had nothing else to do, she opened the book which she took from the built-in bookshelf inside the manor on her way out. She was immersed in it when someone approached her without warning.

"I thought you were with Carlos? What are you doing back here?"

She stared at the man who looked like one of the men working with the family. He glared at her as if her being here was a mistake.

"Why? Do I need to report everything I do to you? Do not forget that my position in the family is higher than yours."

Anger clouded his eyes before he grabbed her arm forcefully. He tried to pull her up but she didn't budge, and the book she was reading fell on the floor with a thud.

"You dare mention positions? You are just a woman who Carlos is keeping within his grasp because you still have a use - either it be in penetrating the Arcane family or penetrating you," he looked her up and down and smirked. "That is where you're only good at. Spreading your legs open for men to freely penetrate your cunt."

Ainsdale's eyes darkened and she slapped his face so hard that it immediately turned red.

"I will see to it that you bleed by the end of the day," she whispered, a threat full of promise which didn't sit well with the man.

He forcefully pulled her up from the lounge chair and she gasped with the pain of how tight he was holding her and how forceful he was in pulling her.

"Let go of me, you bastard!"

"Let us see who Alessio believes more. You who agreed to the engagement because of Carlos' orders or me, who have been working for the family for five years. Come with me!"

She knew Alessio hated her and if this man did something that would completely break the fragile relationship they had, she would end up being tortured to death in place of the woman whom she took her identity to be her own.

"Damn it!" She thought before she pulled her hand away from his grip, followed by a punch straight in his face.

The man did not expect her to do that and he fell down on the floor with a bleeding broken nose. Before he could get her back for it, Ainsdale screamed horrifyingly and called for the name of the person she knew would be able to help her. To make her act more believable, she cried with real tears escaping her calculative eyes.

"Help! Luca!"

"Damn you!"

The man was seething in anger and when he was about to pounce on her, she stepped back and purposedly tripped herself when she saw Luca from behind him. Before the man could grab her, Luca pushed him down on the tiled floor rather forcefully.

"Dian, what the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Let go of me, Luca! This woman is playing tricks with you all! She is - "

She sniffed and continued crying. "Playing tricks? Is this what playing tricks looks like to you?" She pulled the collar of her blouse to let Dian see the marks left by the trace of a drug within her system.

His eyes grew wide. He knew, no matter what happened, Carlos would never inject that drug into her, so how come…

"I didn't want to follow Carlos anymore! I didn't want to bring him the data from the Arcanes which he so badly needed to bring them down, but it was you who pushed me into completing what Carlos had ordered you to do five years ago before you entered this family!"

Dian's eyes grew wide. She is spilling the things she knew to save herself.

"You dare - "

"Shut up, Dian." Luca cut him off by putting pressure on his neck.

If he hadn't done what he said, Luca would surely have taken his life right there. Luca then focused his attention back on the woman in front of them.

"Continue."

Ainsdale looked down at the man pinned down by Luca on the floor and smiled at Dian in a way that Luca didn't notice what she did.

"He is the mole who has been working under Carlos Brovino for five years."

"f**k you, Euphrosyne!"

Luca restrained Dian, who was glaring daggers at the woman. He was left with no other choice but to call for other men to bring him to their underground cells.

"Chain him in the cells until Alessio arrives," Luca instructed, before they took Dian who was shouting curses at her which she completely ignored as she stood back up while she dried her fake tears. "Are you alright?"

"Just little scratches. I'll be fine, thank you."

After the commotion in the garden, Ainsdale found herself inside her room where she spent the whole day resting. She needed her phone or her watch to keep herself busy but they refused to give those back to her without Alessio's consent.

"AVII," she said out of the blue when she was left with no other choice.

She was not surprised when the program's hologram appeared right in front of her because, after staying for so many days in the manor, she noticed the gadgets installed on the ceiling which were the same as the ones in her brother's house and in the company.

"Miss Castiglione, how may I be of help?"

She smiled. "You recognized me?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You are my creator and I have with me your voice ID."

"Will you connect me to my brother?"

"Would you be willing to risk all the traces that will be left behind in the Arcane's security logs?"

"As long as they believe I am Euphrosyne, they will never dig it out, so yes."

After a while, her brother's voice echoed in her room and when she told AVII that she wanted to see him, a projected image of her brother was displayed on the hologram screen.

"Fiume (River), how are you faring?"

"This is more dangerous than I thought."

Aizen bit his lip. "Stefanos called and gave me an update regarding your health. How are you right now?"

"I'm fine. Did he tell you he knew about me?"

"Yes. But since Alessio has not called me yet, I guess he never said a word about it. Did he leave already?"

"Stefanos? Yeah, a few days ago," she answered before she remembered something. "Have you gotten hold of her?"

"You wanna see?"

Before she could answer, her brother's face on the screen disappeared and a few seconds later, a woman, who looked exactly like her, was shown.

She looked miserable and she had new wounds over the scarring ones. She was drenched in water and she looked like she was about to scream in fear as she cowered on the bed away from her brother.

"Looks like you had fun."

Aizen laughed. "Of course I did. And still have it. I like it when women don't talk. I get to hear them scream."

Her brother could really be a devil if he was in the mood to be one.

The woman has her foot tied by a chain to the bed's foot. The chain was long, so her brother must have considered her right to move places, but only after she had undergone torture which she never dreamed of having. She knew how Aizen could be if he hated the person. He will tie a person if he or she can still move before he will give them the slight freedom to move when they have lost their will to do so.

"Did you f**k her?"

"Geez, you're disgusting. If you can still joke like that, I'm sure you are still doing fine."

She laughed at that. "Were you able to get anything out of her?"

"She still did not want to talk, so maybe I'll just abduct her parents and let them join her in her misery."

"Don't you dare - " Euphrosyne screamed but flinched when Aizen glared at her threateningly.

"I'll give you a call when I've gotten a hold of the information I needed from her."

"You can't. Your friend has my phone and watch."

"Use your charm, fiume (river). Seduce him to do your bidding. He is a man after all."

"What?"

Aizen laughed before he bid her goodbye and Ainsdale was left staring at the blank screen.

***

When Alessio arrived home that night, he went ahead to the underground prison cells. He could not accept that Dian, whom he himself appointed as one of the security personnel who should maintain the safety of their family, was the mole inside the Arcana. He had been deceiving him for five years and that angered him more.

He hates liars and despises betrayal the most because it is what took his twin's life when they were young.

Dian pleaded his case. He tried to explain himself but Alessio's heart and mind closed off. Dian's scream as he himself tortured him to death echoed underground like a nightmare that even the rest of Alessio's men flinched and cowered in fear. They had seen him angry a few times but never like this.

Alessio is the type who would give death immediately to the person who has wronged him. He never once beat around the bush in pulling the trigger of a gun to kill a person. But this time, he took his time torturing the person who had been betraying him for five years after he took him to his home and accepted him as a part of his family.

His men knew how long Dian had suffered at his hands even though they waited outside the prison cell. And when they stopped hearing his scream, they could tell that he was already dead.

When Alessio walks out of the cell, no one meets his gaze, afraid that they will stir the anger that surely hasn't been quenched yet. They could smell the rusty scent of blood which enveloped him but no one raised their head to see what he looks like at that moment. No one said a word and just awaited his instructions. The only thing echoing the halls of the underground prison after Dian's screams have died down is the sound of his shoes clacking as he walks.

"Send his body back to the Brovinos," was all he said before he completely left them down there.

He didn't even make sure if they'd follow his instructions or not, but he knew that they were going to under Lucien's command.

When he had his back towards them, that was the time his men were able to breathe, but what they saw upon his exit would surely bring horrors in their sleep. Alessio is covered in blood as if he took a bath using it. Fresh blood is dripping from his fingertips and the prints his shoe left also have blood marking it.

When they went and saw what took place inside, they almost couldn't take it in. It was a gruesome sight, like what Alessio left is a warning to those who have planned or are planning to betray him after Dian. It is like he was saying, they will all end up this way if they ever broke the trust he gave them when he took them under the Arcana's wing.

When Alessio entered the manor in his state, everybody steered away from his way. No one said a word, not even a greeting. His relatives, who were still awake at that time, followed him with their sight while his mother almost passed out, but he ignored them all. Whenever he is not in the mood, he really does treat people like they didn't exist because they might irk the demon in him which he did not want to awaken just after he had killed.

He was about to pass by the door of Euphrosyne's room but he stopped there completely. He was about to open it and see what she was doing but when he saw his bloodied hands, he pulled them back towards him and stared at them instead. She would surely freak out if she saw him looking like that. At that moment, he is a bloody mess in the most literal way, because he just killed the man who betrayed him.

Then why can't he do the same to the woman he knew was just on the other side of the door when she had done the same thing to him?